THE number of people caught drink-driving in Wiltshire after road accidents has almost doubled in the latest police campaign compared with a year ago.

Twenty drivers in the county have found to their cost over the festive period that they have made a serious mistake, a police spokesman said.

This year 8.1 per cent of those tested were positive last year the percentage was 4.3.

In Swindon 99 drivers were breath-tested after accidents and eight were positive.

Last year 84 were tested and six were positive. The percentage in the town has risen from 7.1 per cent last year to 8.1 per cent now. But two years ago in Swindon when 89 people were tested, only three had been drinking too much.

In north and west Wiltshire the number of people caught drink-driving also doubled, from 4.7 per cent tested last year to 9.5 this year.

The tests were carried out between December 18 and January 2 and involved 248 drivers tested after being involved in collisions across the Force area.

The number of injury road collisions during this period was also up, by 14, from 74 to 88. Wiltshire Force Road Safety Officer, Sergeant Dave Melvin, said: "The increase in the number of drivers arrested at the scene of road collisions is disappointing, as is the increase in the number of injury road collisions.

"The higher number of arrests reminds drivers that if they risk drinking and driving, they also run a very real risk of injuring themselves or others and being arrested and put before a court."

The increase in the number of arrests has occurred on the back of a high profile campaign nationally and locally.

A police spokesman said: "We already know that despite the efforts of a number of agencies to educate the motoring public about the dangers, the number of people killed in the UK in drink-drive collisions has been rising since 1998.

"This is despite the majority of the public clearly regarding drink-driving as anti-social.

"Overall the Wiltshire Force figures provide further evidence, if evidence is needed, of the link between drink-driving and involvement in road collisions."

National figures from the campaign organised by the Association of Chief Police Officers will be released tomorrow.

Catherine Turnbull